Boston Celtics Trivia
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This Boston Celtics trivia quiz has 76 free questions with answers and runs the length of the franchise: Walter Brown founding the team in 1946, Red Auerbach's cigar-lit dynasty, the eight straight titles of the Bill Russell years, the Bird-McHale-Parish Celtics of the 1980s, the 2008 Big Three, and the 2024 team that finally raised Banner 18. Expect questions on retired numbers and the parquet floor, the Lakers rivalry from the 1959 sweep to the Heat Game, franchise-changing trades and draft picks, and the odd detail that separates a casual fan from a Garden lifer, like which Celtic spent a day driving a Boston taxi. Every answer was checked against primary and encyclopaedic sources before it went in, so you can argue about the ones you miss with confidence. Play it solo, or use it as a ready-made round for your next Celtics watch party or bar trivia night.
30 of 76 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How many NBA championships had the Boston Celtics won as of their 2024 title?
18
Banner 18 came in 2024 and broke a tie with the Lakers, who sat on 17.
Q 02Which Boston Garden-Arena Corporation president founded the Celtics in 1946?
Walter A. Brown
Walter A. Brown, who ran the Boston Garden, founded the Celtics in 1946 as a charter member of the Basketball Association of America and owned the team until his death in 1964; his No. 1 is retired.
Q 03Which future star of the TV western The Rifleman was an original member of the Boston Celtics in 1946?
Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors also played Major League Baseball for the Dodgers and Cubs before turning to acting.
Q 04Cousy landed in Boston through a 1950 dispersal draft after which franchise went bankrupt?
Chicago Stags
Auerbach had passed on the local Holy Cross star in the draft, calling him 'too flashy.'
Q 05To get the 1956 pick used on Russell, the Celtics traded Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan's rights to which team?
St. Louis Hawks
The Celtics sent Ed Macauley and the rights to Cliff Hagan to the St. Louis Hawks for the No. 2 pick in 1956; the Hawks then met Boston in four Finals, winning only in 1958.
Q 06What did the Celtics owner reportedly promise Rochester so Russell would slide to No. 2 in 1956?
A visit from the Ice Capades
Walter Brown also owned the Ice Capades, so a lucrative skating booking was his to give.
Q 07Which Celtic won the 1957 NBA Rookie of the Year award over teammate Bill Russell?
Tom Heinsohn
Heinsohn capped his rookie year with 37 points and 23 rebounds in the double-overtime Game 7 of the Finals.
Q 08The Celtics' 1959 title came via the first sweep in NBA Finals history, over which team?
Minneapolis Lakers
Boston swept Elgin Baylor's Minneapolis Lakers 4–0 in 1959, the first sweep in NBA Finals history, a year before the franchise moved to Los Angeles.
Q 09When Russell succeeded Auerbach on the bench in 1966, what milestone did he set?
First Black head coach in U.S. pro sports
Bill Russell became the first Black head coach in major U.S. professional sports when he took over from Auerbach in 1966 as player-coach, winning titles in 1968 and 1969.
Q 10Who filled in on December 26, 1964, giving the Celtics the NBA's first all-Black starting five?
Willie Naulls
Willie Naulls started for the injured Tom Heinsohn alongside Bill Russell, Satch Sanders, Sam Jones and K. C. Jones; Boston beat the St. Louis Hawks 97–84 that night.
Q 11Whose 1965 radio call 'Havlicek stole the ball!' did the NBA dub the best-known in basketball?
Johnny Most
Most called Celtics games on radio for 37 years and won the Hall of Fame's Curt Gowdy Media Award in 1993.
Q 12Who is the Celtics' all-time leading regular-season scorer?
John Havlicek
Havlicek's 26,395 points came over 16 seasons, many of them as the league's most famous sixth man.
Q 13Which NFL team drafted Celtics swingman Havlicek in 1962 and briefly tried him at wide receiver?
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns took Havlicek in the seventh round of the 1962 NFL draft and tried him at wide receiver in training camp before cutting him; he had never played college football.
Q 21Roughly how hot was it inside Boston Garden during the 1984 Finals 'Heat Game'?
97 °F
The temperature inside the un-air-conditioned Garden reached 97 °F for Game 5 on 8 June 1984; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar took oxygen on the bench while Bird scored 34 points with 17 rebounds.
Q 22The 'Beat L.A.!' chant began in 1982 when Boston fans urged which team, about to eliminate the Celtics, to win it all?
Philadelphia 76ers
The 76ers lost that Finals to the Lakers anyway, but the chant spread to arenas across every sport.
Q 23Which Celtics reserve went 11-for-11 in the 1985 'Memorial Day Massacre' win over the Lakers?
Scott Wedman
Scott Wedman made all 11 of his shots, including four three-pointers, as Boston won Game 1 148–114 on 27 May 1985; the Lakers then took four of the next five games and the title.
Q 14Which Celtics center spent a day in 1977 driving a Boston taxi cab, going largely unrecognized?
Dave Cowens
Dave Cowens, the 1973 league MVP, spent a day driving a Boston taxi in 1977 and said few passengers recognised him; he had also taken a mid-season sabbatical from the team in 1976-77.
Q 15The triple-overtime Game 5 of the 1976 Finals at Boston Garden came against which team?
Phoenix Suns
Boston beat the Phoenix Suns 128–126 in three overtimes on 4 June 1976, after Gar Heard's turnaround jumper at the buzzer forced the third extra period; Boston then won the title in Game 6.
Q 16With which overall pick did the Celtics select Larry Bird in 1978, a full year before he suited up?
6th
Auerbach gambled that Bird's potential was worth waiting a year while he finished at Indiana State.
Q 17Bird's then-franchise-record 60-point game in March 1985 came against which opponent?
Atlanta Hawks
Bird scored 60 against the Atlanta Hawks on 12 March 1985 in a game played in New Orleans, a franchise record that stood alone until Jayson Tatum matched it against San Antonio in 2021.
Q 18Nine days before Bird's 60, which teammate had set the Celtics single-game scoring record with 56 points?
Kevin McHale
Kevin McHale scored 56 against the Detroit Pistons on 3 March 1985, a Celtics single-game record that Bird topped nine days later.
Q 19The 1980 draft-day trade that brought Parish and the pick used on McHale to Boston was with which team?
Golden State Warriors
On draft day 1980 Boston sent the No. 1 and No. 13 picks to the Golden State Warriors for Robert Parish and the No. 3 pick, used on Kevin McHale; Golden State took Joe Barry Carroll first.
Q 20Who was named Finals MVP when the Celtics beat the Houston Rockets for the 1981 NBA championship?
Cedric Maxwell
'Cornbread' Cedric Maxwell, who later told teammates to 'climb on my back' before Game 7 of the 1984 Finals, was the 1981 Finals MVP against Houston and became a Celtics radio broadcaster.
Q 24The 1985-86 Celtics, often called the franchise's best team, set an NBA record with how many regular-season home wins?
40
40 home wins powered a league-best 67-15 record; the mark was later tied by the Spurs.
Q 25Which Celtic won the 1986 Sixth Man of the Year award?
Bill Walton
Bill Walton, the 1978 league MVP, won the 1986 Sixth Man of the Year award after coming to Boston from the Clippers, the only player with an MVP, a Finals MVP and a Sixth Man award.
Q 26Len Bias, Boston's No. 2 pick in 1986, starred at which university before dying two days after the draft?
Maryland
Bias was twice named ACC Player of the Year at Maryland, in 1985 and 1986; he died of cocaine intoxication on 19 June 1986, two days after the draft.
Q 27The pick used on Bias had come from Seattle in a 1984 trade for which Celtics guard?
Gerald Henderson
Gerald Henderson, whose Game 2 steal had turned the 1984 Finals, was sent to Seattle that October for a 1986 first-round pick that became No. 2 overall.
Q 28Reggie Lewis, whose No. 35 was retired after his 1993 death, played college ball at which Boston school?
Northeastern
Reggie Lewis led Northeastern to four straight NCAA tournaments under coach Jim Calhoun before the Celtics drafted him 22nd in 1987; both the school and the team retired his No. 35.
Q 29How many games did the Celtics win in their franchise-worst 1996-97 season?
15
The 1996-97 Celtics went 15–67 under M. L. Carr, the worst record in franchise history, then lost the draft lottery for Tim Duncan and settled for the No. 3 and No. 6 picks.
Q 30Rick Pitino's 1997 ten-year deal as Celtics president and coach was reportedly worth how much?
$70 million
Pitino's May 1997 contract was reported at $70 million over ten years, making him the NBA's highest-paid coach; he took the president title Auerbach had held since 1970 and resigned in January 2001.